DIY Macro Flash ring using BUILT IN flash for A710

[Graystar]

This article on making a macro flash ring inspired me to try one for my A710.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=223859

This contraption started out as a piece of paper with a printout of the design, and aluminum foil tape taped to the back of it. I made a drawing with cut and fold lines, printed it out, and cut and folded. I made a few versions and I worked out the issues and it's working fairly well now. If anyone wants more info on it lemme know.


Final cut. I bought some foil tape at Home Depot for $2.50. That worked well for getting the light to the bottom of the ring. Also, the main deflector has a slight fold in the middle that you can just barely make out...further directing the light around the sides.
http://home.nyc.rr.com/graystar/pictures/macroring/macroringfinal.jpg


Andrew. Taken in darkness. Camera was able to focus and illuminate fairly evenly. Lens was about 1/2" away.
http://home.nyc.rr.com/graystar/pictures/macroring/andrew.JPG

[lathe]

I'd be interested in how you did this. Please send more details on how you constructed this. That looks cool!

[BowerR64]

You mention an article but i dont seem to find the right link. The link you posted goes to a gallery, i searched the link you posted and it to me to a forum for cameras but it was about a DIY softbox project and then another link took me to a sync cable slave flash project. I never did find the DIY ring flash project.

I did somthing similar to yours a few months ago on my S2. It works really nice for the amount of money i have into it.


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/BowerR64/Thomas/cardboardflashring.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/BowerR64/Thomas/cardboardflashring2.jpg
Taken with the flash ring
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/BowerR64/Thomas/Thomassmall.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/BowerR64/Mysensor2.jpg

[BowerR64]

I also made one that is similar to a sort of soft box kinda thing.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/BowerR64/Camera/edit/Cardboarddiffuser001.jpg

This is one of the most fun things about photography DIY stuff.

Taken with the A700
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/BowerR64/Camera/edit/soft1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/BowerR64/Camera/edit/soft2.jpg

One thing i thought of as i was building it was to use a tube adapter. Use a silver one because it can serve as a reflector and also shield the lens as you test it and work on it. On the S2 it helped difuse the light around the bottom. The bottom was what i was after, when the lens extends the flash is blocked by the lens so wrapping the diffuser around the lens helps the flash bounce around to the bottom. On the A700 you want the flash to get over to the right bottom side. I tried making one similar for the A540 but i tried to use glue and it was messy. The tape is a little more clean but not as secure.

I was going to glue the S2 ring flash thing the tape was to hold it all together till the glue dried but i never did finish it. I was gona paint the outside all white and everything but never did. I still use it now and then and its a great cheap tool. Was more fun to build lol

[Graystar]

You mention an article but i dont seem to find the right link.

Sorry! Here it is.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=223859

Nice job on yours! I was thinking I may need a larger version for subjects a little further away. Actually, I sent an email to Canon describing the device in the hopes that they will start making one. That way all I have to do is go buy one :)

[BowerR64]

Check out item # 110090882609 on e-bay.

Do a search for "microscope lights" they have some that are fairly cheap and small.

If your near a hobby store or a craft store they sell these clamp lights that have a boom arm. They have a magnafying glass in them and some use ROUND neon lights. You might find one cheap at a yard sale or somthing. All you would need to do is remove the glass and you would have a sweet cheap ring light. It could be fixed on a table or a bench where your working then you could swing it over the subject. These are not very portable but a cheap option for those who arnt as crafty.

Photography light rings are a rip off. Ive seen them near $200. for just small LED ring lights. A bit more then i wanted to spend.

I also found this one made by sony, search sony ring light. They made one for P&S cameras that fit around P&S extended lenses and there is even a little bracket that attaches the light to the camera body. It looks nice and its under $100.

[Graystar]

Lathe asked for details so I put together this construction article.

Items needed:
Computer, printer, regular printing paper.
Aluminum foil tape – for inside of ring
Black duck tape – for inside of light guide (it really is supposed to be duck tape.)
Xacto knife – for cutting out the template
Single edge razor. – for making sharp folds
Free2Design software
My template file

For the foil tape I went to Home Depot and got a small roll of Nashua 322 Foil Tape...costs $2.50. Everything thing else I had.
Sorry about the software choice. It’s not very good, but it’s free and was able to print to actual dimension, which is what I needed, as well as draw an octagon. It’s necessary to print or manipulate my template file. Otherwise, you’ll need to create your own.

Software link:
http://www.free2design.org/

Template file:
http://home.nyc.rr.com/graystar/pictures/macroring/macrolight2.e2

Making the ring:
If you have an A710 or A700 this should work without modification. For any other camera you’ll have to adjust the diameter of the ring and length of the light guide. The A710 lens is 35 mm in diameter.

First print out the template. On the screen you’ll see red and green lines. The green lines are lines to cut. The red lines are lines to fold. I’ve set the image to print out in black because the green and red lines are barely visible on paper. You can change the setting if you like. Just use the image on the screen as a guide as to where to cut. Here’s what it looks like:
http://home.nyc.rr.com/graystar/pictures/macroring/macroring.jpg

After printing, place two strips of foil tape on the underside of the paper, under the octagon. I like to have the seam run down the center. Also place two strips of black duck tape on the underside of the light guide.

Next step is to cut. Cut all the green lines. Once you have your parts cut you simply fold on the lines. What I do is line up the end of the razor under the line, and then carefully press down to get a sharp crease.

Seven of the eight outer segments of the ring get taped together. The last segment is folded in the opposite direction from what you see in the pics. That gets taped to the light guide. The inner ring isn’t taped. Its segments get positioned properly when the ring is slipped onto the camera.

When folding the light guide make sure the black is on the inside. The flap at the front of the guide gets folded downward 45 degrees, and I put a slight fold in the middle to help guide light around the sides. You can see it in the pic. The inside needs to be black. It doesn't work if it's not black.

I'm still refining the dimensions of the light guide, so it's a work in progress. But right now it works well.

[lathe]

I'm in the process of building my own version (a bit more involved). I'll post the results when it's done. Stay tuned...

[Graystar]

Images restored.

[lathe]

I'm in the process of building my own version (a bit more involved). I'll post the results when it's done. Stay tuned...

... and I just realized that I haven't been taking pictures of the construction process. And I call myself a photographer. :o

[bertbert]

Graystar:

I tried making a rough prototype of the ring for my S3. I managed to channel the light from the flash towards the ring but I have a few questions.
1) How to get the light go around the ring? What I had was a bright square where the light came out from the light guide and I don't really get what you mean by putting a slight fold in the middle. Do you mean like a guiding vane to direct the light to the left and right?
2) How to prevent the light from diffusing through the cardboard?
3) Why does the inner part has to be black? Doesn't silver help to reflect the light better?

Sorry for the many questions. :)

[Graystar]

1. To get the light around the ring you’ve got to bounce it between the sides of the ring. So you first have to have accurate directing of the light into the deflector. You want light that’s going straightforward to hit the deflector at 45 degrees and go straight down into the ring. Then the light bounces between the inner and outer rings to the bottom. None of these surfaces are perfectly even, so eventually all the light gets bounced out of the ring. Of course, all this happens in a nanosecond. It’s important for the inner and outer edges of the ring to be parallel. It ends up having to be a fairly precise construction in order to work.

2. I lined the ring with aluminum tape from Home Depot. Cost was $2.50 for a small roll. I also used the aluminum tape on the deflector. For the light guide, I lined the inside with black electrical tape, which is opaque.

3. Covering the inside of the light guide with black tape reduced a problem I was having with the flash being too bright on top. I believe that the black walls reduced the amount of light that was bouncing in a way that would cause it to leave the ring immediately. Ideally you want light to travel in line with your shooting direction, hit the deflector at 45 degrees, and go straight down into the ring. But when the inside of the ring is white, you get light bouncing from all different directions, and hitting the deflector at all sorts of angles. This causes a lot of light to leave the ring before it gets a chance to bounce to the bottom of the ring. The black tape absorbs the bad bouncing light.

At least that’s my theory anyways :)

[lathe]

An alternative approach I found works is to use light paper to diffuse the light as it leaves the tube and a 2nd piece that covers the exposed ring area. This is the same kind of paper that you use to cover photograph lamps and flashes.

I painted the inside of my DIY flash with reflective silver paint so the losses of going though the paper are probably on par with the previously mentioned use of black tape.

My design is different from Graystar's but was definitely inspired by Graystar's design (I think his is a great design).

[lathe]

Ok, I've built a pretty decent DIY ring flash. I still need to do some fine tuning. Namely, I didn't expect to get so much of the flash's light correctly redirected to the point of massively over-exposing my shots. :o Fortunately, this is easily corrected by using more filter paper to cut down the light. :D I'll post photos and results when I'm done.

One recommendation I got late in the building (too late in the project) is to use white paint instead of silver paint on the inside of the reflective bowl. White would reflect but in a diffusing manner that would reduce the hot-spotting that can occur in the region of the photo where the light tube enters into the reflective dish (i.e. when the upper left of the photo is brighter than the lower right).

[BowerR64]

The white paint will give a better color balance. The silver will just reflect the raw flash wich can play with the color balance. You can also use yellow or gold and it can give a tanish skin tone as well. Really cool stuff

[shtoink]

I have started construction on a DIY Flash Ring, as well. This seemed fairly inspirational and coupled with the fact that I am handy AND a cheapskate, I have made a mock-up of my flash ring.

I made the ring with a ability to be used with additional lens adapter. I do not have one at the moment, but will be getting one in the near future and didn't want to make a whole new flash ring. What did with my mock-up was create how I needed to pieces to be shaped so it all fits together. Next I will disassemble it and note any adjustments that are needed. After that, I'll make a scan of it as 1:1 and cut out a whole new one. The new one will be painted appropriately inside and out.

I noticed that I will need to make some sort of light baffle to reflect the light around the ring so there are no "hot spots".

If anyone is interested, I'll post the 1:1 scan so it can be used as a stencil for those who might like my design.

Let me know what you think.

[shtoink]

No replies yet? Should this be taken as a sign that my design is bad or that no one else is interested? :confused:

[Graystar]

Well...I've already got one. ;)

[lathe]

Your design looks interesting. I'm curious to see what the results are. The biggest problem I've run into is hot spotting. In a dark room, take a photo of a white piece of paper, set the exposure to not hit the extremes (i.e. no RGB white of 255,255,255 or RGB black of 0,0,0), and see where your photo comes out brighter.

[lathe]

I've finally got all my ring flash photos posted. You can see all of them athttp://www.flickr.com/photos/lathe26/sets/72157600308891621/ but here are some of the high lights:

The finished ring flash
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/232/529857544_9c1e35eb41.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1065/529946901_1d812dd2eb.jpg

Testing results (ignore the exposure differences, just look for how the light changes within each photo):

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/228/529857794_30d8a5582d_t.jpg With ring flash (a little hot spotty in the upper left)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1131/529946953_1719952703_t.jpg Without ring flash (less hot spotty in upper left but still some)


The parts I started with:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1163/529947173_eb15596e05.jpg

[shtoink]

Your design looks interesting. I'm curious to see what the results are. The biggest problem I've run into is hot spotting. In a dark room, take a photo of a white piece of paper, set the exposure to not hit the extremes (i.e. no RGB white of 255,255,255 or RGB black of 0,0,0), and see where your photo comes out brighter.

Thanks

I'll have to try it our. The way I am attempting to design this it to bounce the light down and through the ring. I just need to get the prototype disassembled and measured so I can print it up on some white card stock. I was planning on using some drafting software to make the parts. When I get it all made, I'll test it out for hot spots and do some tweaking. My goal is to have the inside completely matte white to bounce the light but not transfer points of intensity.

I'll update you guys with my results.